I use boardmaker with my non-verbal student. It is used to make icons for her PECs book. What I like about this program is you can take pictures of real world items the student uses in everyday life and import them into already made schedules and premade boards. We use a PECs book daily for communicating choice making and wants and needs. My goal is to expand the number of current icons to help teach the student about feelings so she can tell us when she is tired, happy, mad, and so on.
I have used Boardmaker in the past and it was very difficult for me to use successfully. I don't know if I just was not understanding how to use the program itself or it my school computer was not compatible to it. Either way it became too frustrating. So I downloaded images from Goggle or took digital pictures for PEC's. I have heard great things about it but I just could not get it to work for me!
I have used board maker this year to help a new teacher with visual schedules and social stories. I don't use it very often, so using the templates is confusing for me. I copy and paste it into a word document and add headings there. I like PECs. I like that it is a single place to find images for students. It can also be shared if different students have similar needs for schedules, communication, or social stories. I have used board maker for years and when I was a severe needs teacher, it was the main resource we used for students for their communication, scheduling, and social needs. I would like to get more familiar with the templates so I can more efficiently create the schedules and social stories.
When I looked at ‘Board Maker’ I didn’t think I used it, then after looking it up on Google, I found out it’s what we use with PECS. There is a severely handicapped young lady here that used PECS some. She is encouraged to use sign language to express her wants and needs. Anything that helps a student communicate is a good thing.
Boardmaker is a neat program. A colleague in my district has it and used it to make some pecs for me. But, I needed some pictures of specific pieces of clothing (getting dressed for P.E.) and it did not have what we needed. I was able to download some from the internet. A couple of internet sites that had paid subscriptions looked perfect; but I did not want to invest in the program. Taking actual pictures has been the best for the students I've worked with.
I do not use Boardmaker with my students but the elementary interrelated teacher uses it with one of her students. She makes icons to use with this nonverbal student so he can communicate. I taught her summer school last year for him and we used the Boardmaker icons then. They can be made to be any size you choose and when they are laminated they are very durable.
I love using Boardmaker, I have used pictures for my nonverbal student for many years now, but this is my first year having the boardmaker to use. It has made my life so much easier. It has saved me so much time. This summer I would like to watch a few video's the TASN site has on using boardmaker so I can do more things with it. The site has a series of three video's that train on how to use the program. I used to take actual pictures of all the items I used, but this program has saved me mega time, and my student has learned to identify the icon even if it is not an identical replica. It does not always have every picture I need but it does have most of them.
I agree it is a time saver when you can just go to the program and get what you want in a matter of seconds rather than searching for hours to find the pictures and size them the way you want it.
I have never had to use one before with my students. However, I am sure that at some point I will have to. I will have to look into how it works and play with the program to gain more knowledge on how it works.
I have used Boardmaker this year with one of my Autistic students. I used it to set up his visual schedule. It worked really well for him at the beginning of the year. He was eventually able to be weaned off of his visual schedule because he knew it so well. I plan on using it again next year to set up his year, and with another student who is going to need a visual schedule. I think that it is a great program!!
I agree I think it is very helpful in using for visual schedules. Our hope is that they won't have to use the pictures for long in order to function in the classroom.,
There are several students that use board maker pictures for their visual schedules or PECS system, although it's usually the SLP that helps find these. We also have several students that work best with pictures of themselves doing the task in their schedule, perhaps with a word or two beneath the pic.
Last year was a big year that I used board maker to build visual schedules. I like that I can just get on it and come up with the pictures that I need and I don't really have to search for it. Sometimes the pictures are not up to date such as the computer still shows a old desktop computer so at times I wish it was up to date with the pictures. I like it as well because is easy to use. It makes them in a size that I need for my schedules.
I use boardmaker with my non-verbal student. It is used to make icons for her PECs book. What I like about this program is you can take pictures of real world items the student uses in everyday life and import them into already made schedules and premade boards. We use a PECs book daily for communicating choice making and wants and needs. My goal is to expand the number of current icons to help teach the student about feelings so she can tell us when she is tired, happy, mad, and so on.
ReplyDeleteI have used Boardmaker in the past and it was very difficult for me to use successfully. I don't know if I just was not understanding how to use the program itself or it my school computer was not compatible to it. Either way it became too frustrating. So I downloaded images from Goggle or took digital pictures for PEC's. I have heard great things about it but I just could not get it to work for me!
ReplyDeleteI have used board maker this year to help a new teacher with visual schedules and social stories. I don't use it very often, so using the templates is confusing for me. I copy and paste it into a word document and add headings there. I like PECs. I like that it is a single place to find images for students. It can also be shared if different students have similar needs for schedules, communication, or social stories. I have used board maker for years and when I was a severe needs teacher, it was the main resource we used for students for their communication, scheduling, and social needs. I would like to get more familiar with the templates so I can more efficiently create the schedules and social stories.
ReplyDeleteWhen I looked at ‘Board Maker’ I didn’t think I used it, then after looking it up on Google, I found out it’s what we use with PECS. There is a severely handicapped young lady here that used PECS some. She is encouraged to use sign language to express her wants and needs. Anything that helps a student communicate is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteBoardmaker is a neat program. A colleague in my district has it and used it to make some pecs for me. But, I needed some pictures of specific pieces of clothing (getting dressed for P.E.) and it did not have what we needed. I was able to download some from the internet. A couple of internet sites that had paid subscriptions looked perfect; but I did not want to invest in the program. Taking actual pictures has been the best for the students I've worked with.
ReplyDeleteI have also found that there needs to be some additional pictures. Thank goodness for Google images! I have used them in the past too! :)
DeleteI do not use Boardmaker with my students but the elementary interrelated teacher uses it with one of her students. She makes icons to use with this nonverbal student so he can communicate. I taught her summer school last year for him and we used the Boardmaker icons then. They can be made to be any size you choose and when they are laminated they are very durable.
ReplyDeleteI love using Boardmaker, I have used pictures for my nonverbal student for many years now, but this is my first year having the boardmaker to use. It has made my life so much easier. It has saved me so much time. This summer I would like to watch a few video's the TASN site has on using boardmaker so I can do more things with it. The site has a series of three video's that train on how to use the program. I used to take actual pictures of all the items I used, but this program has saved me mega time, and my student has learned to identify the icon even if it is not an identical replica. It does not always have every picture I need but it does have most of them.
ReplyDeleteI agree it is a time saver when you can just go to the program and get what you want in a matter of seconds rather than searching for hours to find the pictures and size them the way you want it.
DeleteI have never had to use one before with my students. However, I am sure that at some point I will have to. I will have to look into how it works and play with the program to gain more knowledge on how it works.
ReplyDeleteI have used Boardmaker this year with one of my Autistic students. I used it to set up his visual schedule. It worked really well for him at the beginning of the year. He was eventually able to be weaned off of his visual schedule because he knew it so well. I plan on using it again next year to set up his year, and with another student who is going to need a visual schedule. I think that it is a great program!!
ReplyDeleteI agree I think it is very helpful in using for visual schedules. Our hope is that they won't have to use the pictures for long in order to function in the classroom.,
DeleteThere are several students that use board maker pictures for their visual schedules or PECS system, although it's usually the SLP that helps find these. We also have several students that work best with pictures of themselves doing the task in their schedule, perhaps with a word or two beneath the pic.
ReplyDeleteLast year was a big year that I used board maker to build visual schedules. I like that I can just get on it and come up with the pictures that I need and I don't really have to search for it. Sometimes the pictures are not up to date such as the computer still shows a old desktop computer so at times I wish it was up to date with the pictures. I like it as well because is easy to use. It makes them in a size that I need for my schedules.
ReplyDelete